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Over the next few months I’ll be traveling and speaking frequently, giving presentations at conferences, delivering training classes, speaking at seminars, and more. I’ve created an Events page here to keep everyone informed about where I am and what I’m doing. Chances are good that I’ll be in your part of the world sometime this year or next, so register for one of the events and introduce yourself!

Are you interested in attending a FREE Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 training course? If so, I’ll be delivering a two-day instructor-led TMG training program at the Microsoft office in Bellevue, WA on October 6 and 7, 2010. The event is sponsored by Microsoft and Celestix Networks. Attendees will learn how to design and deploy the latest TMG solutions for web access, remote access, and mail protection. The course includes classroom and hands-on lab training. Visit the event page for more information and to register.

Several years ago, Microsoft released the Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) for Windows Server 2003 SP1. The SNP included enhancements to the operating system’s networking stack to improve scalability and increase performance. Later the SNP features were included in Windows Server 2003 SP2. Veteran ISA firewall administrators will recall that the SNP adversely affected the operation of ISA, particularly when Network Load Balancing (NLB) was enabled. Since these features were enabled by default, disabling them after installing the SNP or Windows Server 2003 SP2 on an ISA firewall was a requirement. This was accomplished by modifying registry keys or installing a hotfix that disabled the SNP features.

Today, the networking stack in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 both include the capabilities originally introduced with the SNP. Instead of modifying registry keys to enable/disable those features as we did in Windows Server 2003, they are now managed using netsh.exe. To view these parameters, enter the following command:

netsh interface tcp show global

As you can see, SNP components such as receive-side scaling, chimney offload, and NetDMA are enabled by default. Thankfully TMG is now fully compatible with all of the scalable networking features. There is no need to disable them unless you have a specific requirement to do so.

Great news! The Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010 Administrator’s Handbook is now available for pre-order. Authored by Erez (Ben) Ben-Ari and Ran Dolev from Microsoft, this book will be a valuable asset for all UAG administrators. Due out early next year, the book is available in traditional print form or electronic book (eBook). You can purchase one or both, but if you buy the eBook you will have immediate access to the first three chapters, and additional chapters as they become available.